Thankfully, so far this hurricane season Florida has been spared. However, with Ida sliding by Florida’s west coast it did bring surf, bands of rain, and wind, which may have blown some Red Tide blooms back into our region. There have been some reports since Ida that the coastline is registering blooms and the blooms have brought back some of the stench, although there have not been too many reports of dead fish, which is a positive. The Bay is looking clean and clear over these last few weeks with the snook and trout bite remaining steady for summer as the inshore redfish bite starting to take off as we get closer to fall. Soon we will have a steady concentration of big bull redfish moving throughout the deeper parts of the bay and passes as they spawn. Live shrimp has been an easy ticket to a good day inshore in Tampa Bay as the sheepshead are getting plentiful, the snapper have been firing off, and the snook, redfish, and trout are happy to find an easy meal drifting through the current. Bait around Tampa Bay has been tough for the past several weeks but we are now starting to find bigger concentrations of “fishable” pilchards as the fry bait continues to grow. The tide has been forcefully moving as it typically does in the summer, which makes for great fishing at both the end of incoming and beginning of outgoing. As the water begins to fill up the mangroves for high tide it’s a great time to pitch baits around the trees and points of islands where the current gets swept through and with it a continual flow of bait and nutrients for predators. Fish the up-current side and drift your baits through those ambush points and corners until the water is just about touching the hanging mangrove limbs and then try your luck skipping baits under the limbs into the shadows when the sun gets up high. High tide is a perfect time for cut bait such as ladyfish, pinfish, and mullet making them a great alternative if you’re confident fish are moving through the area but using the cover of the mangroves for protection. As the tide flips and begins to move out, work your way out of that area with the tide and you will continue to find fish exiting the area making their way to deeper pockets and passes. Get geared up for the Fall KOB! Capt. Skylar

November Fishing is Heating Up as the Temps Cool Off Congratulations to those who participated and to all who enjoyed themselves at this year’s King of The Beach! There was a great turnout for the circumstances and the weather was… well…king fishing weather! I sure am hoping and praying that we can put hurricane season behind us as we close out a very active year with Florida fairing pretty well. As I wrap up this report, Eta just came through causing some damage to our coast and some serious storm surge and flooding through the night. I hope everyone stayed safe and dwellings and personal property damage was kept to a minimum. November fishing around Tampa Bay is a fun and versatile time of year to continue targeting some species that enjoy feeding freely in warmer temps such as snook and redfish, as we also transition towards our more active colder temp fish. Included in this list is one of my personal favorites, tripletail, in addition to mackerel, kingfish, and sheepshead. The beach is extremely lively this time of year as bull redfish are roaming in big schools, Spanish mackerel are tearing through bait schools, and the kingfish are lurking just on the outskirts. Trolling deep diving plugs for gag grouper in the shipping channel is heating up, as we still have more than a month left until their closure that will wrap up the year. I enjoy switching things up this time of year and trolling Rapala X-Rap Magnum 30’s in purple and green. Varying your speed from high speed trolling of 10+kts down to 4-6kts can help you find the best bite and action from the lure and give you a good chance of hooking both kingfish and grouper. Many of my recent trips have been spent off the beach catching Spanish mackerel until we’re tired, running the crab traps looking for Tripletail, and bump trolling kingfish. However, we’re coming into a great time to bump docks and fly through countless shrimp as grouper, snapper, and sheepshead will be getting right with these cooler temps inshore. Sheepshead are a great table fare in the winter that require a 12 inch minimum total length and allow a daily bag limit of 8 per person. Make sure you have a sharp knife as sheepshead and tripletail both have thick skin and a large rib cage that make filleting them a bit of a project. However, both fish will reward you with delicious mild and flaky meat that makes all of the work worthwhile. I have been using a 9-inch filet knife made by Seamule this entire season and it has performed and held up beautifully. The German stainless steel blade cuts like butter and holds a sharp edge for many trips before needing a quick swipe on the stone. With so many fishing options this time of year and the gorgeous weather we’re starting to come into, get out there and hook into a big one! Until next month, Captain Skylar Wilks

As seen on The Old Salt Foundation outlets and written by me, Capt. Skylar. Summer will be coming to an end as September closes and with that change will come a whole new fishing season of opportunity in the bay. Although not much will change throughout the month of September, as the weather remains hot and rainy, we will however begin to see a shift in patterns for some of our inshore species as we inch closer to cooler weather and lower tides approaching fall and winter. Anglers will find themselves shifting gears from fishing the big swinging high tides of summer, to the extreme tidal lows that come with winter. Therefore, start to plan your routes and tracks on the water in the coming months before you set out, to ensure you will have enough water to make it there and back. For example, the flat on the west side of Tarpon Key near Fort Desoto will typically hold 3-4 ft. of water at high tide and 1.5-2 ft. of water at low tide in the spring and summer. However, this same flat in the winter months may only hold a foot of water at high tide and hold less than a foot of water or be fully exposed by grass and sand at low tide, making that route unusable for me in the winter. These coming months make for a great time of year to scout the flats looking for pot holes and undulation on the flats that predatory fish will use as ambush points throughout the year as bait flushes over the top. These coming months are also a great time to catch tailing redfish and fish getting into skinny water in search for their next meal. Fall is the perfect time to catch bull redfish in the near shore waters of the Gulf, as these brutes travel up and down the coast chasing baitfish and spawning from September-November. If you are cruising down the coast, keep a sharp eye out for the incredible opportunity to see these big schools of redfish on the surface with their golden glow. Tides will carry the offspring into our estuary where the fish spend the first few years of their life and are heavily targeted by anglers until they reach sexual maturity at roughly 27 inches and then proceed to join the spawning stock (**hidden content**). Your best bet to catch a bull redfish can include a wide array of bait from pinfish, shrimp, and crabs to a more simple approach consisting of cut bait soaking in their heavily trafficked areas off the sandbars, near shore reefs, and mitigation areas. Be sure to “up” your tackle, as these aren’t your typical 20-30 inch fish, many of these bull redfish easily push 20+ pounds. I like to use a 6-8000 size reel paired with a medium-heavy to heavy rod and 40-60lb fluorocarbon leader with a 4-6/0 hook and a half or whole blue crab, cut ladyfish, or cut mullet for bait. A good bottom machine paired with the understanding of what is showing will help you to find these big schools in the deeper drop offs around Egmont key and surrounding areas. Keep an eye out for birds and frigates, as they are a great indicator of action on the surface and a great area to drop baits allowing for a better opportunity of hooking up to a wide variety of potential catches including Spanish mackerel, bonito, sharks, as well as schooling bull redfish. Good luck this month, Capt. Skylar